Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2012 08:14:02 -0400 From: mark <whitroth at 5-cent.us> To: "gt-pfrc at ml.gt.org" <gt-pfrc at ml.gt.org>, bsfsgeneral at bsfs.org, WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>, WSFA Official List <wsfa-forum at yahoogroups.com> Subject: [WSFA] Tech tycoons in asteroid mining venture Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net> Excerpt: A group of hi-tech tycoons including Google's Larry Page and Eric Schmidt have teamed up with explorer and film-maker James Cameron in a venture to mine nearby asteroids, hoping to turn science fiction into real profits. The megamillion dollar plan is to use commercially built robotic ships to squeeze rocket fuel and valuable minerals such as platinum and gold out of the rocks that routinely whizz by Earth, with the aim of having a space-based fuel station up and running by 2020. The inaugural step, to be achieved in the next 18 to 24 months, would be to launch the first of a series of private telescopes that would search for rich asteroid targets. The entrepreneurs announcing the project in Seattle on Tuesday have a track record of making big money off ventures into space. --- end excerpt --- <http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/apr/24/tech-tycoons-asteroid-mining-venture> mark -- "I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides with their own desires." -- Susan B. Anthony 1896